It is strange and unthinkable that despite the enormous contributions of Igbo to the economic, political and social development of Nigeria, they have never produced the executive president of Nigeria. Some persons have even, at several times, referred to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s tenure as President in the First Republic as executive.
Nevertheless, those familiar with the political history of Nigeria know that Dr. Azikiwe’s presidency was ceremonial; that is without executive powers. In fact, in the power configuration at that time, executive powers resided with the Prime Minister – a position held by Alhaji Tafawa Balewa from Bauchi. I must state without hesitation that power sharing among the regions that made up Nigeria at the time was equitably done. In fact, Igbo held strategic positions and virtually controlled the reins of power. They were everywhere – Police, Army, Navy, Air Force.
Interestingly, they showed competence in every assignment they were given. The period leading to the first democratic election in Nigeria saw a crystallisation of forces from the three major regions of Nigeria for the control of political power. This culminated in the emergence of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, as the first President and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, as the Prime Minister. Between the two, political powers resided with Balewa as the Prime Minister. The role of Dr. Azikiwe in the government was ceremonial and aimed at stabilising the reins of power under Nigerians. Do not forget that the country was just smarting from the long control of power by the colonialists who were determined to put their stooges in control of key political offices. Some had argued that Dr. Azikiwe as the first indigenous governor-general had taken the share of Igbo in the power equation at that time. But from the power structure designed by the British colonial masters, it was clear that they wanted somebody with elitist and western orientation to hold that office.
And Azikiwe suited that purpose since he trained and worked abroad before returning to Nigeria to join the independence struggle. I have had the privilege of visiting the famous Pennsylvania University, Philadelphia. It is there that the great works of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe are deeply appreciated. It is also there that the Great Zik made his name in academics. Again, Azikiwe (fondly called Zik) was roundly detribalised and this made it easier for the colonialists to cede power to Nigerians without losing their overbearing influence at the same time. Ordinarily, it would have been very easy for Zik to scheme and clinch the coveted position of Prime Minister if he had shown the simplest interest. But he never did; rather he agreed that Balewa should take the office, for peace to reign and for democratic rule to take root.
Before I proceed with tracing the history of power control by the various ethnic groups, it is important to observe that it has never been in question that Nigeria has three major tribes, comprising Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, and that each of them had ruled Nigeria for over eight years, except Igbo. Around these tribes are other multi-cultural, dialectical ethnic groupings that make up the corporate entity called Nigeria. From available records, there are over 350 of them. With time, the number will increase, as new dialects are discovered.
However, there seems to be undisputable squabbles among them for control and recognition. The ethnocentric differences among these various groupings spring from their age-long desire to assert themselves more autonomously. In fact, the struggle for autonomy has spanned the entire gamut of our socio-political set-up, throwing up all kinds of insurgencies and insurrections that have even seen brothers pitted against brothers.
Even those tribes that lack the capacity to stand alone in the struggle are also striving for recognition. It was the same agitation that led to the South-South producing its first democratically elected President for Nigeria. Nevertheless, some pundits and political commentators had thought that Igbo should have produced the President before the South-South, since the South-South is deemed to be one of the minority ethnic groupings in the country. But some visible factors accounted for the swift ascendancy to power by the South-South geopolitical zone. The first and most critical factor was the coordinated agitation they championed that saw the establishment of the Niger Delta Ministry by the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
Again, the argument that the South-South had been raped and pillaged despite the fact that 70 per cent of the nation’s oil resources come from the zone became handy. It helped to disarm those that had any contrary views about it. Indeed, from the body language of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, it was clear that he had made up his mind to compensate the South-South Zone. Probably, he settled for this option to spite some persons and tribes that had opposed his tenure elongation agenda. By nominating the then Governor Goodluck Jonathan (now President) as deputy to sick Umar Yar’Adua, it was glaring that he had something up his sleeves.
That thing came to the fore with the death of President Musa Yar’Adua. Now back to the era before the first military coup in Nigeria. By 1966, the ominous signs were everywhere – an indication that the relative peace being enjoyed by the country was about to snap. The Chukwuma Nzeogwu coup of 1966 and the counter coup of the same year were the last straw that broke the camel’s back. The first coup threw up a renowned Igbo son, General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi as Head of State. He ruled for only six months and was brutally murdered in a counter coup masterminded by young northern military officers.
The latest coup saw the emergence of Yakubu Gowon as Head of State. Gowon held the reins of power throughout the period of the civil war, up till the time he was overthrown by another northern officer – General Murtala Mohammed – who was assassinated in 1975. Naturally, the power baton fell on a Yoruba army officer, Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo was the Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters and the No. 2 man at the time.
It was Obasanjo that handed over to Shehu Shagari (from Sokoto) as civilian president. Shagari chose Dr. Alex Ekwueme from the then old Anambra State as his deputy. They were in office till December 31, 1983 when they were overthrown by the Major General Muhammadu Buhari/Tunde Idiagbon junta. They stayed in office until August 27, 1985 when Major General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida from Minna (North Central) led a coup that toppled them.
Babangida was in power from 1985 to 1993 when he stepped aside to give way to an Interim Government led by a corporate executive, Chief Ernest Shonekan. The interim government arrangement did not last, as it was booted out by Major General Sani Abacha in a bloodless coup on November 18, 1993. It is important to point out at this point that there was a failed attempt by a group of some northern young military officers to topple Babangida on April 22, 1990. The coup failed because the coup plotters, led by one Colonel Okar, were too ambitious when they called for the excision of some parts of the country from the rest of Nigeria.
It was a risk too heavy to take. They took and paid dearly for it. Had the coup succeeded, nobody could have hazarded a guess as to what would have happened to the country called Nigeria. The coup failed and Nigeria has continued to exist. After the death of Abacha on June 8, 1998, power vacuum existed that saw to the emergence of Major General Abdulsalami Abubakar as Head of State. True to his pledge to hand over power after a very short tenure, he exited from office on May 29, 1999. Before then, he had conducted a fairly generally acceptable election from which Olusegun Obasanjo emerged a second time as Head of State. It is vital to observe that it was easy for Obasanjo (representing the South West Yoruba) to emerge as President.
His presidency was substantially facilitated by the reasoning at that time to compensate the Yoruba for the death of Chief M.K.O Abiola – acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election. Obasanjo was in power for eight uninterrupted years with Abubakar Atiku (from Adamawa – North East) as deputy. At the expiration of his tenure, he handed over to former Governor of Katsina State, Umar Musa Yar’Adua, with Goodluck Jonathan as his deputy in 2007. Evoking the Doctrine of Necessity, the National Assembly voted for Goodluck Jonathan to act as President pending when Yar’Adua would be fit to return.
Unfortunately, Yar’Adua died in office as the mantle fell on his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan contested for President on his own recognition in 2011 and won. Though there was indignation among PDP members that the party’s zoning formula was jettisoned. What then will happen in 2015? Equity simply demands that since Igbo are yet to produce Nigeria’s executive president as other tribes had done, they should be allowed to do so in 2015. Some analysts argued that the presidency is not given to anybody, rather you fight for it.
But let me ask: did the South-South really fight for it before they got it? If it is a thing you get by fighting, Igbo would have got it long ago, having fought a bloody civil war for 30 months. That the South-South got it this time was a combination of factors – some of which I had already stated in the foregoing part of this piece. Nevertheless, it is significant to state here that there was no way Jonathan would have won the Presidency in 2011 without the support of Igbo.
Igbo, as a nation, threw their support solidly behind him. Ohanaeze Ndigbo, South East Governors’ Forum and numerous other socio-political groups supported the Jonathan/Sambo ticket agenda. In any case, followers of Nigeria’s development will attest, if they want to be honest, that no other tribal group had contributed to the development of Nigeria as much as Igbo. Applying every index of measurement, I wish to state categorically and without any fear of contradiction, that Igbo are overqualified to lead this country.
Igbo is the only tribe whose people live in every part of the globe. There is no place in the entire world you would not find Igbo, except there is no life in such a place. In business, education, politics, and the like, Igbo have played pivotal role. Nigeria is where it is today, developmentally, because Igbo have used their ingenuity and dexterity to reengineer it and reposition it. I had already mentioned the invaluable contributions of the Great Zik of Africa to the struggle for independence.
What of the other notable Igbo patriots, such as Akanu Ibiam, Michael Okpara, Eni Njoku, Sam Ikoku, Ojike Mbonu, K.O. Mbadiwe, Dennis Osadebey, Jaja Nwachukwu, Aja Nwachukwu, that worked with Zik to liberate Nigeria from the shackles of colonialism. The history of Nigeria cannot be complete without their names. There were other latter-day Igbo who played a significant role in the development of Nigeria. Under this category were great men, such as Chief Ukpabi Asika (former Administrator of East Central State), Chief Sam Mbakwe (former governor of old Imo State), Chief R.B.K. Okafor (of the Nigeria Peoples’ Party fame), Dr. Pius Okigbo (the renowned economist), Christopher Okigbo, Prof. Kenneth Dike (former President of Anambra State University of Science and Technology, Enugu), Professor Gordian Ezekwe (a former Director of PRODA, Enugu, and Minister of Science and Technology), Engineer Roy Umenyi (former governor of Old Anambra State).
There are others who fall into this category, but are still alive. They include Chief Mbazulike Amaechi (Transport Minister in the First Republic), Chief Philip Asiodu, Cyprian Amadi (the passionate writer), Flora Nwakpa (the tireless and elegant female writer). There are the younger generation of Igbo, who deserve some recognition. They include Chief Arthur Mbanefo (one-time Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations), Chief Prof. Chinua Achebe (the literary icon and author of the famous Things Fall Apart), Prof. Chike Obi (the indefatigable and cerebral mathematician), Philip Emeagwali (the computer whiz kid who amazed the world with his intellectuality and innovativeness), etc. The list is endless.
The Sun
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